


Conversations In The Middle Of The Night

by afteriwake



Series: A Little Holmes [25]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 20:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2745602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock gets home very late after having been awake for well over twenty-four hours, but when the twins need something he's the one who gets up, trying to let Molly sleep. Things don't quite work out as planned, however.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Conversations In The Middle Of The Night

**Author's Note:**

> And finally touching back on this series before my hiatus! I missed writing for this one, I did.

It was nearly two in the morning when he finally got home. It was quiet, which he was thankful for. The evening had been filled with loud noises and bright lights and he just wanted dark and peace and quiet. He had been up for nearly thirty-eight hours now, and the sooner he could crawl into bed and put the day behind him the better. He just wanted to pull Molly close and sleep. Hopefully if the twins or Abigail woke up she would get out of bed and take care of it, he thought to himself as he made his way to their bedroom. Molly was asleep on her side of the bed, facing the middle. He had no clue when she'd actually gone to sleep or how much sleep she had gotten, but she looked comfortable and peaceful, and he didn't want to wake her up. He quietly stripped out of his clothing and then changed into his pyjamas before climbing into bed himself. He laid down on his back and shut his eyes, but despite being bone tired he was having trouble actually going to sleep. He had hoped after the very long day he'd had he'd be able to get _some_ sleep, but what felt like hours after he'd put his head on the pillow he heard a whimper coming from the twin's room. He opened his eyes and glanced over at Molly. She appeared not to have heard it, and since he was already awake he thought it best to take care of it himself.

He pulled back the bedding on his side of the bed and put his feet on the floor. When he glanced at the clock on his nightstand he saw he'd only been trying to sleep for just over an hour, which had felt much longer. He made his way out of the bedroom and up the stairs to the twin's room. From outside the door he realized only one of them was awake at the moment. With a yawn he opened the door and saw it was James who was awake. “Let's see what you need,” he said, going over to his son's crib. He got him undressed and checked his nappy but he was dry. That meant chances were good he was hungry. Sherlock picked him up and began to make soothing noises as he made his way to the door to take him downstairs.

He had just turned the knob when Rebecca began to cry and he hung his head. That _would_ be his luck. He went to her crib and then carefully lifted her up. As soon as he did that, though, it registered in his sleep deprived mind that he hadn't opened the door yet. He set her back down and went to open the door, still carrying James. When he was done with that he went back to Rebecca and picked her up as well. It was awkward to carry both of them at once without benefit of car seats but he could do it as long as he moved slowly and carefully. He left their bedroom and made his way downstairs and towards the bassinets. He had just put James in when he heard movement in the hallway. “I was trying to let you sleep,” he said towards Molly as she came out into the sitting room.

“I've gotten more rest than you have,” she said with a smile. “I should have woken up instead of you.”

“It's all right. I was having trouble going to sleep,” he said, setting Rebecca into her bassinet.

“If you want to go back to bed I can take care of them,” she said as she moved closer to them.

“After I did all the hard work getting them down here?” he asked with a grin.

“Consider it me being considerate of your need for sleep. And also because you look dead on your feet. I wouldn't be sure you wouldn't give them bottles that weren't...” She trailed off.

“I'm tired, but I'm not so tired that I don't know how to make a proper bottle. I did that all the time with Abigail, remember?” he said as he straightened up. Then he yawned again. “I'll stay down here until they're asleep again so I can help you get them back upstairs.”

“Sherlock, when did you get in?” she asked with a slight frown.

“A little over an hour ago,” he said. “My mind is running over the events of the night and it's keeping me up. There were complications with the case and it ended up taking a good portion of the evening to sort it out. And it didn't help that John got injured.”

Molly's eyes widened. “Was it serious?”

“Just bruised ribs, sore knuckles and a black eye,” he said, shaking his head. “The murderer took a few swings before Lestrade and I got to them. The man was out cold on the floor at that point, though.

“I hope Mary's taking care of him,” she said before going into the kitchen.

“Most likely after she scolds him for getting injured,” he said with another yawn as he followed her.

“I would do the same thing to you if you'd been the one injured,” she replied. “After I made sure those were the only injuries you had, of course.”

“Of course,” he said with a nod.

“I do wish what you did was less dangerous, though,” she said quietly. “I worry about you quite often."

He stood behind her and pulled her against him. “I take every precaution I can,” he said. “I have too much to lose by doing something without as much planning as possible. We knew the man was at the club and he was unarmed. We just hadn't realized he'd been trained in hand to hand combat.”

“I know,” she said, reaching up to hold his arms. He held her close for a few moments before she pulled away. “Are they both hungry?”

“James was. I haven't checked Rebecca yet.” He left the kitchen and went to his daughter. He undressed her quickly and then checked her, finding her to be dry as well. “She's either hungry or lonely,” he said.

“I'll make two bottles, then,” she said, beginning to move around the kitchen. He turned his attention to the twins and began singing to them softly. They were still crying but it was quieter now. After a few minutes Molly came over with two bottles. She handed one to Sherlock and then picked James up, cradling him before giving him the bottle. He settled in to drink it immediately. “He was just hungry,” she said, smiling down at her son.

Sherlock did the same with Rebecca, and she settled in quickly as well. He moved over to the sofa, Molly right behind him, and they both sat down. “I'm very glad Abigail is still asleep,” he said with another yawn.

“You're going to jinx it,” Molly said, shaking her head. “The last time we had all three of them up at once it was a royal headache.”

“I suppose it was,” he said thoughtfully. “I had thought I would be lucky tonight and it would just be James awake.”

“Well, that's why you have me to help,” she said with a smile. “Three young children in the same home takes quite a bit of work, but I think we're managing quite well.”

“I suppose,” he said with a nod. “I hope it gets easier before you go back to work, though.”

“We have months before that's going to happen,” she said. “And if we have to we can always get help. Maybe someone to help during the day while I'm at my post, so you don't get really overwhelmed.”

“That would probably be the best thing to do,” he said after he thought about it for a moment. “Doing my job with just Abigail was easier because I had help, though with John no longer here and Mrs. Hudson leaving soon it's going to be harder, even with help during the days.”

“Maybe we could get live in help?” she suggested. “Someone who will cook and clean and watch the children when we aren't available. Mrs. Hudson won't be here so they can have that portion of the home to themselves.”

“There are definitely some advantages to that,” he replied. “I imagine when the twins start crawling and then walking we'll be expending all our energy trying to corral them and keep Abigail in line as well, and I imagine that the state of the home will look like a perpetual war zone.”

“That's going to be a fun time,” she said. “If we don't lose our sanity by the end of it I'll be surprised.”

He was quiet for a few moments. “Do you regret having them while Abigail is still so young?” he asked.

“In a way I do,” she admitted. “And I feel bad about that, but it came as a complete surprise we were having twins. We had absolutely no preparation for all of this. But mostly I don't regret it. I love all three of them dearly and I can't imagine my life without them in it now.” She looked over at him. “Do you regret it?”

“I feel exactly the same way you do,” he said.

“That's good,” she said as she smiled. Then she looked down at James. “I had always wanted children, ever since I was very young. I started to give up the idea that I would have them after a while, though. I always seemed to have the most awful taste in men. You included, for a time. But I think you having to change for Abigail's sake was the best thing that could have happened to you, and I got to reap the benefits of that. I love the man you are now very much.”

“I hope so, considering you've said you'll marry me,” he said with a grin.

“And I will, hopefully sooner rather than later. But I want to look smashing in my wedding dress, which means I need to start working on losing this baby weight once I've completely recovered from surgery.”

“I will continue to love you regardless of how you look,” he said. “Though since you want to look better I will do everything I can to help. I would rather you be happy with how you look than unhappy.”

“Thank you,” she said, looking up and giving him a warm smile. “We can start making some plans now, I think. Maybe start thinking about where we want to get married and who we want in our wedding parties. And I may start thinking about wedding dresses so I have a concrete goal to work towards.”

“We could start doing that tomorrow, if you would like,” he said before yawning again.

“ _After_ you get some real rest,” she said with a slight chuckle. Then she looked back down at James. “I think he's gone back to sleep.”

“Rebecca has as well,” he replied.

“We can leave the bottles on the table for the moment,” she said, removing the bottle from James's grip. She set the bottle on the table in front of the sofa and then stood up. Sherlock stood as well before leaning over and setting Rebecca's bottle on the table. When he straightened up they left the sitting room and made their way back to the room the twins shared. Once they got into the room they each deposited the infant in their arms back into their crib. Molly ran her fingers though James's hair when she was done. “They're both so beautiful. I don't think I'll ever stop marveling at that.”

“And that's a very good thing,” he said, standing behind her and putting his hands on her shoulders. They stood like that for a few minutes before he kissed the top of her head. “We should get some rest before either of them wakes up again.”

“Good idea,” she said. He moved away from her and they turned and left the room, shutting the door behind them. They made their way to their own bedroom, and when they got there they both made a beeline for the bed. This time Sherlock pulled her close against him, and she settled in before bracing his arm with hers. “Good night, Sherlock.”

“Good night,” he said as he yawned. He shut his eyes and soon enough he was drifting off to sleep, and this time he hoped he was actually able to _stay_ asleep for a long while.


End file.
